Voids

Martyn releases new album Voids, his first for Ostgut Ton. Over the past year, Dutch-born, Washington D.C.- based producer Martyn has undergone a metamorphosis – one that began with a medical emergency and has dovetailed into personal musical transformation. Having narrowly avoided death after suffering a heart attack, Martyn reentered his studio and began a process of reassessing the elements that drive him to make music: sampling, unpredictability, melancholy, sci-fi, polyrhythms, texture, ecstatic oments, Detroit, interlocking percussion and bass. However, the initial spark to start producing again came through his experience listening to Max Roach’s 1979 ensemble percussion album M’Boom. It features no guest appearances or collaborations and at 9 tracks, is musically stripped down to the essentials. It’s also a highly personal take on forging new paths forward in genres where the Berghain / Panorama Bar resident has long been known for his production wizardry and innovation: post-dubstep and UK garage. Voids is roughly split between these musical foundations, recontextualized with elements of Nyabinghi, drum ‘n‘ bass, and gqom to form snarling, bass-driven hybrids. The direction was hinted at last November on his GL Outtakes – reworks of his landmark 2009 album Great Lengths. In contrast however, Voids is also an attempt to work through personal trauma and loss, including the passing of close friend and fellow producer Marcus Intalex aka Trevino. The sound of Voids is big and unapologetically rough around the edges. It is music as therapy, drawing on the healing elements of music past, but is far from retrospective.